1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a container, in particular to a pressure medium container for hydraulic motor vehicle braking systems, with at least one chamber which can be filled with a liquid medium via a filler neck, and with a cover which can be fastened to the filler neck and has means for equalizing the pressure between the chamber and the atmosphere, wherein a sealing element is provided to prevent the liquid medium from emerging from the chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Containers having active sealing elements, such as, for example, valves or membranes, or having passive sealing elements, such as, for example, labyrinths, which generally function on the basis of gravity, are generally known from all technical fields.
A container of the type in question, which is provided as a pressure medium container for a hydraulic vehicle braking system, is known, for example, from DE 37 34 421 A1. The sealing element of said container comprises a plurality of components which serve to seal the pressure medium chamber and at the same time permit the pressure to be equalized. For the functioning of a container of this type, the chamber in which the liquid medium, here the brake fluid as the pressure medium, is located has to be unpressurized. That is to say, the pressure between the chamber and the atmosphere can be equalized.
The container is therefore briefly ventilated and aerated once in each case during a braking operation, with said intermittent flows having to be ensured with adequate sealing. Furthermore, changes to the volume of the pressure medium, which may occur, for example, because of a loss of pressure medium or changes to the temperature of the pressure medium, have to be able to be compensated for by an exchange of air.
When the container is used in a braking system having a movement dynamics control system, such as, for example, electronic stability control (ESP), it may be necessary, during a control intervention, with the main cylinder of the braking system unactuated or actuated, to suck pressure medium out of the container in the direction of the wheel brakes, which takes place by means of a pressure medium conveying device, the input of which can be connected either to pressure spaces of the main cylinder or to the wheel brakes in order to convey in the direction of the wheel brakes or in the direction of the main cylinder.
At the same time, however, pressure medium should be prevented from being able to emerge from the pressure medium container—for example if the motor vehicle is in an oblique position. An exemplary embodiment can thus be found in DE 37 34 421 A1, in which a seal is arranged between the filler neck and the cover and a separating element is provided in a filling opening of the filler neck, said separating element being of air-permeable, but liquid-tight design, with the separating element being connected captively to the cover.
Furthermore, DE 10 2005 009 657 A1 discloses a container with a labyrinth.
Drawbacks of the abovementioned containers include the complicated construction and the time-consuming and costly installation. Furthermore, in the known containers use is frequently made of components and sealing elements which are produced from rubber-like materials or require a high degree of accuracy, which often leads to cost-intensive solutions.